Next Corvette Will Be Powered by Small, High-Revving Turbo V-8

“We have to target a very different sort of buyer.”

Anxious to attract the sort of high-performance buyers increasingly drawn to European sports cars from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini, General Motors is planning some major changes for the next-generation Chevrolet Corvette – starting with a high-revving, small-displacement powertrain, that will substitute for the big V-8s traditionally found under the hood of the Chevy two-seater

GM has approved the use of a very European-style V-8 that will be only slightly larger than 3 liters in displacement. The engine will be an overhead-cam, rather than traditional overhead-valve design, using a dry sump oil system that’s particularly well suited to high-performance road courses rather than straight-line acceleration. The engine is expected to feature a narrow 80.5 mm bore and a long stroke, more like a Ferrari or Lamborghini powertrain than the approach used for traditional Motor City metal.

A very senior GM executive also confirmed that the new engine will be turbocharged, which will help yield a broad torque curve and maximum performance under a variety of driving conditions. The engine is expected to deliver in excess of 400 horsepower, which means a specific output in the range of 125 horsepower per liter. That’s the sort of number that would help the next-generation Vette stack up well against the likes of a Porsche 911 or Lamborghini Gallardo.

The engine is likely to be extremely high-revving, perhaps climbing to a near-Formula One-class 10,000 RPMs, suggested one source involved in the project.

The revelation tracks in line with a recent comment by General Motors’ North American President Mark Reuss, who recently promised that the so-called C7 Corvette, due to market in less than two years, will be “completely different” from the very American sports cars that have come before it. Since its launch in 1953, Corvette has been governed by the philosophy, “there’s no replacement for displacement.”

While Reuss and other senior executives have declined to discuss plans for the next Corvette publicly, several well-placed sources have given TheDetroitBureau.com a good sense of what’s to come. The small V-8 underscores what one of those insiders says is the desire to “target a very different sort of buyer for the next Corvette. Let’s face it, the current customer is getting old.” But without making significant changes, that source acknowledged, younger sports car fans will continue to be “conquested” by more modern, high-tech imports.

Significantly, Corvette won’t abandon its more classic powertrain roots entirely. There will be several different types of engines offered for the C7, including a more classic, big-block OHV V-8 designed to appeal to traditionalists.

In fact, some of the design cues of the new car will be borrowed from early generations. There have even been rumors of the C7 going with the split window of the very collectible 1963 Corvette, though TheDetroitBureau.com has not been able to confirm that that particular detail has been given the go.

Meanwhile, expect the interior to be much more modern than the current car’s, which GM’s global design chief Ed Welburn admits “is a disappointment.” The styling boss, a long-time Corvette fan himself, says he is personally overseeing the development of the C7 interior and promises it will be “absolutely world-class.”

Adopting a mid-engine layout, rather than the long-running front-engine design, is considered a strong possibility, though it would be a significant engineering shift for GM. Nonetheless, sources say that wouldn’t be entirely out of line, as the Corvette has often served as the technological test bed for the maker.

GM adopted the then-radical approach of using a fiberglass body when the original 1953 Corvette was launched. The sports car has introduced plenty of other features over the years, including the MagneRide suspension, which uses a magnetically controlled fluid to continuously vary suspension settings to match road conditions and driving behavior.

When migrating from the fifth-generation Corvette to today’s C6 model, GM trimmed weight and brought the sports car’s overall size down to something closer to that of a current Porsche 911. Anticipate further cuts in mass for the upcoming remake of Chevy’s halo car.

GM is investing $131 million in the Bowling Green, Kentucky plant that produces the Corvette to prepare for the C7 launch.

The use of the new small-displacement V-8 is likely to have some knock-on effects at GM, said one source. As with current Corvette powertrain technology, the high-tech engine will find its way into the Cadillac line-up, it appears, where it would help that brand’s V-Series evolve into a more sophisticated offering, rather than the brute-force line-up it is today.

The switch to a smaller, turbocharged V-8 isn’t exclusive to GM, incidentally. Ford made the move with its big F-Series pickup for 2011, offering a downsized EcoBoost twin-turbo V-6 — which delivers the same sort of towing power as the F-150′s biggest V-8, while yielding significant fuel economy improvements.

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Retro Russian Import Lures Older Riders

This is the story of how a dying Soviet-era industry and an aging biker population in the United States met and found happiness together on the streets and highways of America.

Think of it as Easy Rider, the golden years.

It started as a matter of survival for the Irbit Motor Works, which for decades had churned out its signature Ural motorcycle with sidecar attachment, but which discovered that its business was sputtering into the Post-Communist sunset like so many other Soviet enterprises.

Irbit found salvation in an unlikely niche market: older American riders seeking utility, not thrills or spills. Suddenly the sidecar, a seemingly anachronistic product evoking a World War II newsreel, had a new life among the late middle-aged.

The company shifted its sales strategy overseas in the 1990s and today, despite its deep roots in Russia as the purveyor to the Red Army, it sends 60 percent of its output to the United States.

For the target male consumer, the born-to-run ideal of a motorcycle mama on the back has given way to a spouse or girlfriend riding alongside, holding the dog or the groceries.

Irbit and its dealerships say older bikers represent their core market, but the bike-sidecar combination has also begun to catch on with a younger generation of riders, couples who find its retro look appealing.

“In the Soviet Union, our motorcycle was a workhorse,” said Vladimir N. Kurmachev, Irbit’s factory director. “Now it is an expensive toy.”

David Reich, 65, a retired carpenter in Salem, Ore., bought a white Ural Patrol from a dealership there last year.

“It’s something my wife and I can both enjoy,” he said in a telephone interview. They considered buying two bikes, he said, but decided on the sidecar so his wife, Jeanne, would not have to get a motorcycle license. Also, they could chat while touring.

“I am having a ball!” Jeanne Reich wrote in an e-mail. “I enjoy cruising along a few inches off the road with nothing to do but take in the view.”

Peter terHorst, the spokesman for the American Motorcyclist Association, said the average age of its 230,000 members was 48. As people’s strength and coordination wane, he said, “you see them transitioning to the sidecar.”

“Older couples say it’s just not comfortable to double up,” Mr. Kurmachev said during a tour of the shop floor, where sidecars are polished, painted and installed standard on nearly every bike.

Irbit, known by its Russian acronym IMZ, says it is the only motorcycle manufacturer in the world selling stock sidecars in volume; some BMW and Harley-Davidson dealers have sold them as options, though Harley is discontinuing sidecar production.

Sidecars, while popular with some riders, still account for a fraction of the motorcycle market in the United States, said Ty van Hooydonk, a spokesman for the Motorcycle Industry Council, a trade group. The makers do not disclose sales figures, he said.

Irbit’s factory sits on the rim of a ramshackle town of wooden buildings and rutted dirt roads on the Siberian side of the Urals, with a statue of Lenin still in the main square. It is operating, but at greatly diminished capacity compared with its 1970s heyday, when it produced up to 130,000 vehicles a year. Assembly lines have closed and the motorcycles are now built by hand.

A ride in a sidecar can be either exhilarating or, for those not accustomed to the sensation, terrifying. Set low to the ground, the sidecar tends to rise into the air on right-hand turns. The bike is street legal in all 50 states. But because the entire three-wheel contraption is legally a motorcycle, no seat belt is provided or required. With United States sales rising, Irbit says it is studying an air bag for the sidecar.

The Ural is a heavy, 40-horsepower motorcycle whose two cylinders jut sideways from the frame. It is modeled after a late-1930s BMW sidecar bike called the R71, which Nazi Germany provided to the Soviet Union after the countries signed a nonaggression pact in 1939. When the Nazis broke this pact and invaded, the Russians used the bike to fight them.

Irbit stopped building military models in 1955 and began focusing on a civilian market of hunters, outdoor enthusiasts and owners of summer homes.

With the end of the command economy, subsidized steel and cheap labor, the factory was forced to raise its prices, and sales in Russia fell sharply. Older sidecars can still be seen in Russia carrying hay, heads of lettuce and planks of wood. But Irbit sold only 20 motorcycles in Russia last year, and the owners say that the factory would have died without sales to the United States.

Before the recent recession, Irbit sold 650 Urals a year in the United States, and says it is on track to reach that level again this year, through 48 dealers around the country. A low-end Ural-sidecar combo sells for about $10,000. Over all, the factory plans to build 1,100 units in 2011.

The popularity of the sidecar in America was nurtured by motorcycle enthusiasts in the Pacific Northwest, where the bikes were first imported in 1993 in small numbers.

Bikers were mesmerized by the Ural’s highly retro design, and some got a kick out of the machine gun mount on the model exported to America — a feature that had long since disappeared from the Soviet civilian machines.

“We had customers who put on fake machine guns,” Jim Petitti, the owner of Raceway Services in Salem, Ore., a Ural dealership, said by telephone. “It kind of faded because the cops gave them such a hassle.”

Sales of the Ural picked up as dealers identified the bike’s appeal to older couples no longer happy riding on the same seat.

“Husbands and wives have been riding together for years,” said Mr. Petitti, characterizing typical Ural clients. “Finally, the old solo bike becomes too heavy to hold up. The wife doesn’t want to ride behind the husband. She can’t see. Present her with her own cockpit, and she’s ready to rejoin the adventure.”

Irbit says that while older bikers carried it through a difficult spell, younger American couples are also drawn to it.

“They are good-looking bikes,” Elena Gonzalez, 24, a registered nurse, said in a telephone interview from Miami, where she lives with her new husband, John, a firefighter. The couple rode their Ural to their wedding.

“We were going to get a limo, and then we thought, ‘let’s just go on the motorcycle, it will be fun,’ ” Ms. Gonzalez said.

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Most Popular Cars of 2009

By Jeff Voth, CarNews Media

The year 2009 will go down in history as a watershed moment for the automotive industry. American icons General Motors and Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection, seizing as much taxpayer money as possible in their efforts to fend off impending doom. Both survived, but under much different circumstances than anticipated decades earlier.

Going or almost gone from the GM’s portfolio were Hummer, Saturn, Pontiac and Saab along with a myriad of employees. Chrysler, sold to Italian automaker Fiat SpA, was now under the control of Canadian-born chief executive Sergio Marchionne and harboured an immediate need for new product. A summer launch of the Cash for Clunkers program would help both, but for how long?

Ford was in amazingly good shape, declining offers for government aid in an effort to keep its counterparts from going under. Ford realized, without a healthy GM and Chrysler, it too would be out of business, not large enough on its own to keep afloat the supply network necessary to run an entire industry. New products were streaming full speed into the market, with Taurus, Fusion and Flex leading the way.

Not surprisingly, Yahoo! Autos most searched for car brands in 2009 represent the strengths and sometimes failures experienced in the auto industry this past year. Toyota and Honda placed first and second on our list. Both companies shared the spotlight with successes in new products, the 2010 Toyota Prius, and continuing sales of mainstays such as the Honda Civic and Accord. Not all was roses, however, Toyota suffered from unexpected recalls while both companies encountered downward trends and the need to exit racing, specifically Formula 1, to conserve cash and develop new products faster.

Ford ranked third, with Nissan fourth and BMW fifth. Nissan did feel the pinch of a tighter economy, but under the strong leadership of CEO Carlos Ghosn, it seemed well positioned to tread carefully while others succumbed to economic pressures. BMW continued their A-plan of designing new and exciting vehicles such as the 535i Gran Turismo, and for the most part, consumers responded. With additional product set to launch, both Nissan and BMW appear poised for additional success in 2010.

When it came to ranking the most searched for individual models, it turns out that the enduring popularity of the iconic American muscle car, such as the Chevy Camaro and Ford Mustang, is still tough to beat. In fact, five of the top 10 most searched cars are American made. However, smaller, fuel-efficient models are still top of mind with consumers as evidenced by the continued popularity of the Honda Civic, Mini Cooper and Smart ForTwo.

Most Searched Car Models for 2009
1. 2010 Chevrolet Camaro
2. 2009 Honda Civic
3. 2009 Ford Mustang
4. 2009 Mini Cooper
5. 2009 Smart ForTwo
6. 2009 Honda Accord
7. 2010 Dodge Charger
8. 2010 Dodge Challenger
9. 2009 Jeep Wrangler
10. 2009 Mazda3

2009 Mazda MAZDA3

The 2009 MAZDA3 is a 4-door, 5-passenger family sedan, or wagon, available in 8 trims, ranging from the i... read more Sport 4-Door to the s Grand Touring 5-Door.

Upon introduction, the i Sport 4-Door is equipped with a standard 2.0-liter, I4, 148-horsepower engine that achieves 24-mpg in the city and 32-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard, and a 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional. The s Grand Touring 5-Door is equipped with a standard 2.3-liter, I4, 156-horsepower engine that achieves 22-mpg in the city and 29-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard, and a 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional.

The 2009 MAZDA3 is a carryover from 2008.

2009 Jeep Wrangler

The 2009 Wrangler is a 2-door, 4-passenger sport-utility, available in 3 trims, ranging from the X to the... read more Rubicon.

Upon introduction, both trims are equipped with a standard 3.8-liter, V6, 202-horsepower engine that achieves 15-mpg in the city and 19-mpg on the highway. A 6-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard, and a 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional.

The 2009 Wrangler is a carryover from 2008.

2010 Dodge Challenger

The 2010 Challenger is a 2-door, 5-passenger sports coupe, available in 3 trims, ranging from the SE to the... read more SRT8.

Upon introduction, the SE is equipped with a standard 3.5-liter, V6, 250-horsepower engine that achieves 17-mpg in the city and 25-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard. The SRT8 is equipped with a standard 6.1-liter, V8, 425-horsepower engine. A 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard, and a 6-speed manual transmission with overdrive is optional.

The 2010 Challenger is a carryover from 2009.

2010 Dodge Charger

The 2010 Charger is a 4-door, 5-passenger sports sedan, available in 6 trims, ranging from the Base to the... read more SRT8.

Upon introduction, the Base is equipped with a standard 2.7-liter, V6, 178-horsepower engine that achieves 18-mpg in the city and 26-mpg on the highway. A 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard. The SRT8 is equipped with a standard 6.1-liter, V8, 425-horsepower engine that achieves 13-mpg in the city and 19-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard.

The 2010 Charger is a carryover from 2009

2009 Honda Accord Sedan

The 2009 Accord Sedan is a 4-door, 5-passenger family sedan, available in 13 trims, ranging from the LX 5-Spd... read more MT to the EX-L V-6 5-Spd AT w/ Navigation System.

Upon introduction, the LX 5-Spd MT is equipped with a standard 2.4-liter, I4, 177-horsepower engine that achieves 22-mpg in the city and 31-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard. The EX-L V-6 5-Spd AT w/ Navigation System is equipped with a standard 3.5-liter, V6, 271-horsepower engine that achieves 19-mpg in the city and 29-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard.

The 2009 Accord Sedan is a carryover from 2008.

2009 smart fortwo

The 2009 fortwo is a 2-door, 2-passenger family coupe, or convertible, available in 3 trims, ranging from... read more the pure to the passion cabriolet.

Upon introduction, both trims are equipped with a standard 1.0-liter, I3, 71-horsepower engine that achieves 33-mpg in the city and 41-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard.

The 2009 fortwo is a carryover from 2008.

2009 MINI Cooper Hardtop

The 2009 Cooper Hardtop is a 2-door, 4-passenger family coupe, or sports coupe, available in 3 trims, ranging... read more from the Base to the John Cooper Works.

Upon introduction, the Base is equipped with a standard 1.6-liter, I4, 118-horsepower engine that achieves 28-mpg in the city and 37-mpg on the highway. A 6-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard, and a 6-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional. The John Cooper Works is equipped with a standard 1.6-liter, I4, 208-horsepower, turbo engine that achieves 26-mpg in the city and 34-mpg on the highway. A 6-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard.

The 2009 Cooper Hardtop is a carryover from 2008.

2009 Ford Mustang

The 2009 Mustang is a 2-door, 4-passenger family coupe, sports coupe, convertible, or convertible sports car,... read more available in 8 trims, ranging from the V6 Coupe to the GT Premium Convertible.

Upon introduction, the V6 Coupe is equipped with a standard 4.0-liter, V6, 210-horsepower engine that achieves 17-mpg in the city and 26-mpg on the highway. The GT Premium Convertible is equipped with a standard 4.6-liter, V8, 300-horsepower engine that achieves 15-mpg in the city and 23-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard on both trims, and a 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional.

The 2009 Mustang is a carryover from 2008.

2009 Honda Civic Sedan

The 2009 Civic Sedan is a 4-door, 5-passenger family sedan, available in 16 trims, ranging from the DX 5-Spd... read more MT to the EX-L 5-Spd AT w/ Navigation System.

Upon introduction, the DX 5-Spd MT is equipped with a standard 1.8-liter, I4, 140-horsepower engine that achieves 26-mpg in the city and 34-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard. The EX-L 5-Spd AT w/ Navigation System is equipped with a standard 1.8-liter, I4, 140-horsepower engine that achieves 25-mpg in the city and 36-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard.

The 2009 Civic Sedan is a carryover from 2008.

2010 Chevrolet Camaro

The 2010 Camaro is a 2-door, 4-passenger sports car, available in 5 trims, ranging from the LS Coupe to the... read more 2SS Coupe.

Upon introduction, the LS Coupe is equipped with a standard 3.6-liter, V6, 304-horsepower engine that achieves 17-mpg in the city and 29-mpg on the highway. A 6-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard, and a 6-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional. The 2SS Coupe is equipped with a standard 6.2-liter, V8, 426-horsepower engine that achieves 16-mpg in the city and 24-mpg on the highway. A 6-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard.

The 2010 Camaro is redesigned for 2010.